BIG WEEKEND EVENTS

Every month we offer a whole weekend of themed STEAM-based activities.

 

EARTH DAY WEEKEND - April

Earth Day Weekend is about caring for and protecting our planet, with a STEAM twist

  1. Creature Costumes & Camouflage - Play a matching game to learn about animal patterns and colors, then make a collage to explore adaptation and survival.

  2. Solar Race Cars - Harness natural energy sources by powering a race car with a solar cell. 

  3. Wind Turbine Gizmos - Engineer wind turbine-based flying gizmos and watch them twirl, spin, and glide in our Wind Tube Table.

  4. Blackout Poetry - Create a blackout poem using Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot." 

  5. Nature’s Geometry - Shapes are found in nature where plants and animals use math to build homes, make food, and grow towards the sun's energy.

  6. Recycled Sculptures - Get creative with your recyclables. Join other artists to create an eco-friendly art installation for the Museum.

MAKER WEEKEND - May

Maker Weekend is an exciting and fun way to learn about the wonders of STEM

  1. Magnetic Motion - Explore the world of magnets and witness objects levitate and defy gravity without contact, this an exciting way to learn about science!

  2. Robo Menagerie - Meet and play with robotic critters, the incredible coding toys.

  3. Cardboard Bridges - Build and experiment with cardboard bridges to enhance your Maker Mindset, utilizing suspension and truss designs. 

  4. Kinetic Balance Sculptures - Make fun sculptures from everyday objects to learn about gravity, balance, and stability through tilting, sliding, and suspending.

  5. Math Marble Machines - Create marble runs by experimenting with different paths and stunts.

  6. Hot Glue 101 - Master tools without fear of boo-boos. Our maker space teaches hot glue safety and risk awareness while enjoying experiential learning

PRIDE WEEKEND - June

Celebrate Pride Weekend with colorful science and learning.

  1. Prism Power - Play with Prisms to bend white light to uncover the rainbow of colors hiding inside. 

  2. LED Spectrum Squishy Circuits - Explore electricity with homemade conductive and resistant play-doh that lights up, moves, and makes sounds.

  3. Soap Bubble Shapes - Find rainbows in the iridescence of a bubble. Create 3D geometric shapes using chenille stems and straws, producing colorful films.

  4. Rainbow Weaving - Intermix the colors of the rainbow while improving concentration, problem-solving, and creativity.

  5. Painting Number Bond Rainbows - Improve math fluency with number bonds that visually show how to break down a number, making them helpful addition facts.

  6. Progress Pride Flag Puzzles - Explore the meaning behind each color and symbol as you piece it together.

SHARK WEEKEND - July

Celebrate these majestic creatures through science, art, and math.

  1. Dissolving Seashells - Explore how ocean acidity affects marine organisms, ocean food web, and us.

  2. Sinking Boat Challenge - Design a boat with aluminum foil and test it with marbles to see if it floats or if the marbles sink the boat!

  3. Shark Trackers - Track the real-life movements of your favorite sharks. Explore the Shark Tracker system to see the real-time Shark activity outside Long Island Sound.

  4. Mermaid’s Purse Charcoal Sketching - Use real shark Egg Case specimens (Mermaid’s Purses) as your sketching inspiration.

  5. Shark Teeth Sorting - Learn fascinating facts about how sharks grow and lose hundreds of teeth yearly. You can even identify the species and take one home with you (one per child).

  6. Pin the Fin on the Shark - A STEAM spin on the classic birthday party game. Put on a blindfold, spin around, and try to pin the correct shark fin in its place.

RENAISSANCE FAIRE WEEKEND - August

Step back in time but through the lens of STEAM.

  1. Dragon Beak Lab - Learn about adaptation and natural selection through a medieval science lab lesson that connects the beaks of Darwin's Galapagos Finches to their food using various tools.

  2. Davinci’s Cardboard Automata - Create a moving sculpture for an engaging way to learn about mechanical elements that can be adjusted for varying difficulty levels.

  3. Catapult Challenge - Construct and test a medieval engineering invention by launching objects at targets to see how far they go. 

  4. Upside-down Michelangelo Painting - Design a stunning ceiling fresco for the Museum's Exhibition hall. Paint a canvas suspended below tables on the ground before it is displayed in our skylights.

  5. Side Quest Scavenger Hunt - Explore your favorite exhibits and test yourself with math-related quests.

  6. Fairy Stomp Rockets - Experiment with different wing sizes and styles, including those of various creatures, to determine which ones allow fairies to fly the farthest.

 

HALLOWEEN WEEKEND - October

Come in costume for a not-so-scary Halloween STEAM event featuring:

  1. Name ‘dem Bones - Examine skeletons of vertebrate animals, big and small. Animals come in all shapes and sizes, but we have much in common under the skin. 

  2. Glow in the Dark Room - Play around with ultraviolet-reactive materials under our black lights and discover what makes things glow in the dark. There's nothing like an eerie green glow to set the tone. 

  3. Spider Web Engineering - Make a web out of yarn and test its strength, seeing how many weights it can hold. 

  4. Ghost Pour Painting - Create a spooky and haunting, BOO-tiful painting. 

  5. Pumpkin Guts Seed Count - Explore a Jack ‘O Lantern guts using tweezers (or fingers!) to count, sort, sequence, and estimate the seeds inside.

  6. Monster Hide ‘n Seek - Seek, find, and match the Monsters hiding around the Museum.

FALL FEST WEEKEND - November

STEAM activities that celebrate the changing seasons.

  1. Leaf Litter MicroBiomes - Explore the hidden world under your feet with magnifying glasses and scientific collection tools to discover miniature creatures and ecosystems in leaf litter.

  2. Pumpkin Batteries - Discover a fun and unique science experiment using zinc and copper plates, alligator clamp wires, bulbs, and a pumpkin to power an LED light.

  3. DIY Corn Maze - Create a custom maze using engineering design techniques, plan, test, evaluate, and improve to ensure a unique and challenging experience for those who navigate it.

  4. Applesauce Cinnamon Dough Sculptures - Mix applesauce and cinnamon to make awesome scented playdough, then craft it into art sculptures.

  5. Seed Sorting - Think like a squirrel and categorize plant seeds by physical characteristics like size, count, and texture.

  6. Leaf Raking - Experience the joy of autumn by raking leaves and jumping into piles - indoors! Use kids-sized rakes and paper & felt leaves for a safe and enjoyable experience.

SNOW DAY WEEKEND - January

A STEAM winter wonderland.

  1. InstaSnow - Experience the magic of science by growing a blizzard in your hand.

  2. Infrared Vision - Learn how animals like snakes, mosquitos, and bats hunt using infrared vision and body heat.

  3. Blanket Mega-Forts - Engineer a mega Museum-sized fort using blankets, rope, and connectors in our exhibit halls; this is the ultimate snow day activity. 

  4. Snow Clay Sculptures - Make snow-themed creations with snow-like play dough without getting cold fingers.

  5. Snowflake Clings - Explore the unique formation of snowflakes by building symmetrical snowflakes out of static cling shapes.

  6. Cozy Blubber - Learn how seals, whales, and penguins stay warm in cold ocean waters; then test different insulation materials in ice water to see what keeps your hand warm. 

KINDNESS WEEKEND - February

Kindness Weekend is about spreading joy, positivity, and love with a STEAM spin.

  1. Kindness Ripples - Learn how small acts of kindness can have a big impact, just like ripples in a puddle; science explains this wave phenomenon. 

  2. Human Circuits - Make an impact when you join hands with family and friends; this collaborative demo will teach about completing circuits, conducting electricity, and insulation.

  3. Helping Hands - Use the Engineering Design process to create a prototype of a helping hand with moving fingers using cardboard, string, and straws. Try making it wave hello or grab a ball.

  4. Friendship Bracelets - Create beautiful friendship bracelets to share with friends using string and jewelry connectors.

  5. Cookie Fiasco - Solve the cookie-sharing dilemma of 3 cookies between 4 friends with The Cookie Fiasco, a playful introduction to fractions by Mo Willems and Dan Santat. 

  6. Balance - Explore emotional balance (and gravity) through interactive activities like walking a balance beam and using a scale. 

SLIMEFEST WEEKEND - March

Play with slime made by our expert Slime Chefs (aka Museum Educators) and snap a picture of the recipe to make your own at home!

  1. Glue & Borax Slime - Play with this classic version that put slime on the map; this squishy sensory plaything is also an excellent way to learn basic chemistry vocab. 

  2. Cornstarch Oobleck - Experiment with this unique substance that looks and moves like a liquid but feels solid when you touch it.

  3. Applesauce Cinnamon Dough - Sculpt this squishy and sticky dough, leaving your hands smelling amazing.

  4. No-Bake Playdough - Mold this classic dough from everyday kitchen pantry items.

  5. Kinetic Sand - Play with the handmade version of this popular toy is a perfect mix of sensory play and gritty fun that holds its shape until it oozes away.

  6. Magnetic Slime - Watch in awe as this special slime devours a slow-motion magnet.